How and why should you integrate social listening with SEO data?

Social Media tools in Integrated Marketing

Social listening tools have been around for a long time now – the first being the infamous ‘industry pioneer’ Radian6. Since that time, we’ve seen some real developments across the industry, in terms of accuracy, the measurements and the channels available (as more channels grow exponentially).
As social media marketers, professionals, and anyone who uses data will know, these tools are extremely useful in gaining insight into what real people are talking about.
It makes sense to join your search information with your social information. Why not combine what people are searching for with what they are saying? Then you are matching what people are looking for, with how they are talking about it. From the channel they are using, to the words they use – being integrated on a search and social level is now key in unlocking your audience’s potential. Keywords which are popular in search might be different in social. No-one walks around talking in the same way that they type into Google. “Great restaurants, Brighton, good reviews…” – that would be weird. But people do talk about the great food they’ve had, the restaurants they’ve been to, and what they had for tea.
Social listening tools such as Meltwater, Brandwatch, Sysomos and even RivalIQ are leading the way in what channels you can access (hello LinkedIn and Instagram) and what you might want to know – sentiment, growth, trends, keywords, channels etc. All that information is sitting there and can be used to learn about your own audience, as well as the audience you are looking to connect with. But remember – how you talk isn’t how you search. And that’s key. You can type your search keywords into Meltwater, and see what it spits out. But it might not be the right message. Thinking about how you would describe something online can only support your search. Also, excluding key terms to avoid spam is a great tip – there’s always going to be a list of words which you don’t want to see – ‘deal, offer, win, $’ etc. Remember to also consider the country you are targeting – language is vital.
It’s easy to get SEO and social experts together [if they aren’t integrated already]. Sharing information, bouncing ideas off each other and discussing how each one finds their data can only improve the quality of it, integrated or not, for content campaigns, social campaigns, and in fact, any kind of content.The main message – get a social listening tool. Some of them might appear pricey, but you’ll be surprised. The value is in being able to offer integrated campaign insights, ideas and activities and vital in remaining competitive. Nothing ‘just goes viral’ anymore, as more and more people are online. With Instagram leading the charge, being able to access any Instagram post related to a keyword, and have it presented in a tool is far less costly than having your content team trawl the net manually. Once you have the tool, make sure you take advantage of the training. Boring – but important. Then get going! Gather some keywords from Google Trends, and see how things differ online socially. And remember – think about how you would talk with your mates in the pub!